Gandhi I Adore

Gandhi. Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi, 

The world is celebrating 152 years of his birth.

Earlier, in smaller cities, on 30th January all students and teachers used to gather in the prayer ground before 11:00 hours and keep silent for two minutes at 11:00. A siren used to sound its alarm and everyone used to pay respect to Mahatma. Seems he is being written off now from the later period of history by many sections of the public. But I do believe, Mahatma cannot be, can never be written off. His views will guide humanity for many decades. Unfortunately, it has become a fashion on the part of many small and mid-level or some aspiring leaders to criticize men of prominence in Indian history only to increase their visibility in media, whether social media or otherwise. Gandhi is very often called names for his difference of opinions with others of hid times and also his support to Nehru, major offensive being launched by those who had become anti-Nehru! While he never claimed any copyright over what brought the independence of India nor the historians say that any single person could ever bring independence to a country as big as India, but there are sections, who either only out of sycophancy say that he is the only man in the freedom struggle. 

Other questions are being raised in many quarters currently whether he is relevant any more. There are sections that even question his honesty and credentials.

"Seventy years on, Godse has risen again, replacing Gandhi in some of us. Today the country is deeply embroiled in caste and communal conflicts. The warning of Hind Swaraj is largely coming true. Wealth and prosperity have increased substantially. But economic inequality has also increased substantially." Indian Express.

He was not a God, nor any reincarnation. He was the Man, an extraordinary one. While for some, he is given the sole credit for the independence of India, others blame that he did nothing and independence came only due to revolutionaries and the armed revolt led by  Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and others including the resentment in the armed forces. Some also blame him for the bifurcation of the nation into India and Pakistan. 

As I said, he was not a God. In India, where even God(s) are used by social leaders to their personal advantage, Gandhi was also used. The Independence movement was a process with both the non-violent and revolutionaries playing their respective parts in it. The major role of Gandhi in the freedom movement was the mass awareness and mass engagement which the revolutionaries were not able to engage.

Recently, someone commented that he had sidelined Subhash Chandra Bose and many others. I will not support Gandhi on this issue, but reiterate, he was not God and was open to mistakes. He was not part of the revolutionaries but was not less patriot than them. He could have chosen a career as many of his periods had, but he chose to fight. The ways were different for sure. And none of them were wrong, rather they were complimentary. The mass awareness of the need for freedom was due to the mass appeal of Gandhi's ways which the revolutionaries did not have. 

Their way of work also drew hundreds of people to their ranks who were ready to die for the country fighting the Britishers, but they certainly did not bring excitement to millions. Given the peaceful culture of the country for centuries, the expansion of Vaishnavism, Buddhism, and sheer lack of education due to various reasons, the prime purpose of the lives of people had become to live, eat, live and that's all. Millions were able to rise from that, to know that they were entitled to better lives.

Mahatma Gandhi, the man who led India to freedom from the oppressive British colonial rule, was assassinated on January 30, 1948, at the age of 78. Many will not agree with me, and they are entitled to differ. I will ask the reader to read the following also:-

The Mass Satyagrah on account of Rowlatt Act 1919 is noted by the then British Press as:- 

There was a radical change in the situation by now—

• The masses had found a direction; now they could “act“ instead of just giving verbal expression to their grievances.

• From now onwards, peasants, artisans, and the urban poor were to play an increasingly important part in the struggle.

• The orientation of the national movement turned to the masses permanently.

The Britishers had not witnessed such participation at mass level in any of their colonies, they never imagined such uprising at the grass-root level.

1. Here are some of his statements that continue to inspire me, and I am sure, few others too. He was a man who lived up to his statements. He might have changed his statements during the progress of his life, but he had been honest to himself. If he changed, he said that and did not hide behind the cobweb of false haze.
2. Truth alone will endure, all the rest will be swept away before the tide of time. I must continue to bear testimony to truth even if I am forsaken by all. Mine may today be a voice in the wilderness, but it will be heard when all other voices are silenced if it is the voice of Truth.
3. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
4. A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.
5. Always believe in your dreams, because if you don't, you'll still have hope.
6. Seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.
7. Non-violence in its dynamic condition means conscious suffering. It does not mean meek submission to the will of the evil-doer, but it means the putting of one's whole soul against the will of the tyrant. I am not pleading for India to practice nonviolence because it is weak. I want her to practice nonviolence being conscious of her strength and power.
8. A man of truth must also be a man of care.
9. You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
10. We cannot evoke the true spirit of sacrifice and valor, so long as we are not free.
11. My life is my message.